Meet your Match

   Diamond match box, disassembled and folded, left under the red bridge. At the mill, Ron notes how the water level has receded since its higher levels after rain.

   Holiday weekend. Warrior and I have plans.

   Four herons: one wandering to the eastern tip of the picnic peninsula, another hunched and stoic on rock at red bridge, a small little green heron on a branch in the marshy canal near the Heritage Center (less than a month until Heritage Days) and one upon a rock in the middle of the creek past the overpass.

   On way back, a dead vole in the center of the path ( moved it) and a sunshine square.

   Why is the studio/house on Washington street missing from the list of available properties? The Artist Wanted sign posted in the front window contradicts what a representative from the office told me in June: the property was going to settlement the next evening.

Opening Gambit

  

Chess at Reading Public Museum, Genesius Theatre

 Give me your ventricles and lend me your ears, theatregoers!  Can you picture the musical Chess unfolding inside the atrium of the Reading Public Museum? Add music and dance to the static cling and see what it stirs in the hearts of  men and women.

   A preview was held Friday night and if you missed it, not to worry. Genesius Theatre of Reading, Pennsylvania has the full show coming up August 14, 15  and 16.  A dash of red dress, a pinch of yellow and a bit of blue go with the requisite black and white attire. Set your timers; three weeks to prepare. 

     Christopher Sperat directs the musical from the book by Richard Nelson, with Lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson.

   After the show, a knight in patient armor was kind enough to give us a moment of his time. We think the show is made for him. He says Chess is full of his favorite pieces.

   “I’ve worked and waited 15 years to be in this show!” said actor Mike Kurowski, who delivered  Anthem and a duet with cast-mate Kira Apple. Mr. Kurowski is a Grand Master. We look to him to provide suspense, love interest and breathtaking moments. His time has come.

    What the show is about remains to be seen; the plot and cast are confidential. Center of the board. Center of the board. In the interim, we plan to stock up on Pepperidge Farm Chessmen® cookies, make chess tarts and other rookery.

for more information: www.genesiustheatre.org and www.readingpublicmuseum.org

Special thanks to the Berks County Public Library and Spring Township Library AND  Foundation for the Reading Public Musem for the free museum admission pass which allowed us this sneak peek and to see the Berks Art Alliance exhibit, among others.

   Cautionary tail:  Miss  Apple is apt to make vocal moves for which the best response is to rise up or flood with tears, so be strong. Smart travellers carry tissues. Heaven Help My Heart is worth a king’s ransom.

lizness katthundheit!

  

Liz Hess art 2009

 

   Cherchez le chat?  God bless the animals!

   July’s edition of Furry Friday at the  Humane Society of Berks County www.berkshumane.org unleashed the work of Liz Hess, a bilingual Lancaster, Pennsylvania artist who speaks the language of Sweden, where dog is hund and cat is katt.

    Behind every great artist is a fine fuzzy friend or two; Hess’s cat, Claude, and her dear dog, Prudence, help with the Lizness business: multiple series of paintings, pastels and prints. We particularly like the parity: for every canine picture,  there is an equal and opposite work for felines.

   Itching for rain? Hess also paints likenesses of red umbrellas, some with animals.

    A giclee (“spraying with ink”) technique is used for about one-third of the paintings. 

    Hess makes a charming habit of annual travel abroad. She lived most of her third decade in Sweden (Lapland).

   Visit: www.lizhess.com

So What Osmosis, Even Faster than That

So What Osmosis

   What kind of blue is behind the ess on gum box?      Guttersnipe!

   Something variegated this way grows.

   Radio Taco Bell, Bill and bacon. Ultimate find.

   Squirrel in bin. Autosave. Feels freed.

    

   Pick of the litter: sporting goods store receipt (back of.)

   Backwards  red 1 inspection number.

   Park crew tee: Sabathia and number 52 baseball over what kind of blue?

   Beauty beauty day.  Tiny blue jay feather. Tiny!

   Pair of squirrels, classic sitting/nibbling  pose.

   Bushy tail ↔ crimped tail.

   Crimped tail springs. Boing-boing, been jolted?

   WET PAINT sign on log bench. What neat placement!

  

 

 

   Victor: light blue tee. Is a one/ten day. Blogger: navy. 

   Overheard in Reading: park crew “We did that

   post, that number eight.”

the 10 post

   A few good pathlings.  

   Iotas show moss.

   How close we came to a heron this morning?

                                                                            

    ON THIS DAY in 1846:

    http://www.pbs.org/kera/usmexicanwar/timeline_flash.html

 

pathling

Veto Vote

  

    Heron 6:25 strutting on grand rapids. Little Debbie Honey Bun wrapper. Perfect! Sunlight 6:28 strikes underside of ash leaves. Vested interest along picnic bend: two phishermen, thigh high.  Full sun, my shadow ↑ straight strait. Heron in flight. They fly so neat. Sunstruck. Headscratching heron on rock. Squawk and tuck. Pathling.  Heron on draping broken branch. Comfy. Preparing for festival @ end of  August. Associating. Say honeysuckle; surprise! man on locks.  Avery® decal on one of five vehicles (two maroon), upper lot. Groups of leaves: two in dialogue, three in conversation.  Walking pairs: man  woman =  in height, her \thick/ponytail\bouncing/swaying\every/step. Mother + daughter: L O V E + Say What? tee shirts. Pretty runner VOTE on breasts. Plain runner, with earbuds. Victor. Suggests bandeau and brief running shorts for me. Veto. Unsafe at any speed.  Heron on toppled tree along Tulpehocken road.  Toad on path. Strikes pose.  Sits. Stays. Reminder: Toad-ally cool is coming up! Regular walking machine.

2 Pack Price

   It’s not every day you find sex on the path. Today I do.   

   It’s official:  Saturday.  I’ve declared:  a two day.

    Pick of the litter is a paper shape in the lot. Picking it up gives me a chance to smile. It says 2 PACK PRICE,  just as found. I could not have edited it better myself.

   Someone with a stylus finger has written with bold, curvy lettering that has curious sharp, pointed tips. So much force has gone into the rendition it compels me to stop. Something something R O something and J V.

     Further up is where sex was written. While I am making note, Victor arrives, and noticing we are both wearing red tops gives Victor a chance to smile.

    The mood of the day is overcast and quiet.  Two plastic bottles I picked up to put into the recycling barrel are at my feet. A heron is in the creek near the metal pipe outlet. I point it out to Victor. He tells me how they fish alone, travel alone. I mention their nesting in colonies. He mentions people complain about their squawky noise. 

Compared to what? Eddie Harris.

We walk together for a mile and Victor expresses his opinion on various subjects:

The Phillies: after loss to team: It’s a lousy thing that they should close their eyes and win.

The ground hog: having a field day out here. They are so tame you can pick one up and take it home.

His mileage this year: 600. Will not make the 1400 or 1500 he did last year.

   “I’ve already walked to Japan and back. We’re talking really big miles. At least 20,000 since I’ve retired.”

And my appearance: No bra? See your boobies dancing with joy!

Solar Flair

   Summer solstice is sweetest when the sun shows up.  As the clouds made way, we made our way to the 3rd annual Solar Flair Music & the Arts WALK in Reading, Pennsylvania Friday night.

   The orange and yellow balloon pairs with crepe paper tails tied along the pedestrian route put an atmosphere of guidance and cheer into the air. It seemed a miracle they resembled the event logo.

   After stopping for a chat under an arch of the Penn Street bridge, where flute-playing awaited commencement, we came upon the river Schuylkill, glinting in the late afternoon sun and rushing after the recent rains, with things that don’t belong to rivers bobbing along on top. It felt like a brave new world.

   From behind a scrim of pine trees near the Reading Area Community College campus, the sound of a violin. Descending the exterior metal stairway of an odd square structure,  young man with violin. Young man named Christopher. 

   What were you playing?  Wild Mountain Time. 

   Unlike most violinists we have seen, although we claim not to have seen many up close and personal, Christopher had hands that looked like they might recently have been printing with ink or working on a car. We asked him about this because it seemed unusual.

    We understood him to say he needed to make adjustments to his bicycle in order to get here in time to play.  After this, starting at eight, you will find him at his job at Walmart in Exeter and he will have gotten there by car.

  What is that structure?

   “It belongs to the U.S. Geological Survey,” Christopher said. “In 1972 there was a flood… Agnes. It went all through here.”

   A glance toward a sign on the side of the building confirms its ownership.

   “That’s why a lot of the businesses left,” said Dawud, a tall young man with good bones and milk chocolate skin. “You can see the water marker on the bridge. That’s how high it went.”

   Dawud stood facing that way so that we could emulate him and see for ourselves the black and white measure that reminded us of a line of Frankenstein stitches made neat, regular and vertical, on concrete.

   Dawud, after relating he chose poetry over politics,  recited a strong and chiseled piece that seemed influenced by rap genre. We would have liked to hear it again and again, so we asked its title and he said it has none. None of his work is titled. This piece reminded us of Mount Rushmore without the hurry.

 When we asked who inspired him to write, he said “My fifth grade teacher. She saw I had a talent for it.”

Solar Flair continues through Saturday and is presented by RiverPlace, The Community School of Music and the Arts, West Reading’s Art on the Avenue and the Goggleworks Center for the Arts. For more information, visit www.RiverPlacePA.com.

Her Eminence Teresa Arana

Did You Ever Know Love? poems by Teresa Arana

    Thursday evening, we were given the opportunity to attend a book signing by Reading, Pennsylvania author Teresa Arana, a lovely young lady who has put together a dual collection of heartfelt poems in their original English (front) with Spanish translations (atrás.)

   The Meet and Greet to announce the publication of  Did You Ever Know Love? was held at Mi Casa Su Casa, 320 Penn St., Reading  from five to seven p.m. Guests were treated to wine with fresh fruit, cheeses, and empanadas and the author’s daughter Esmeralda twirled about in a lavender dress fit for a princess.

  “She dressed herself!” said Arana.

    Arana told the audience she began writing in a diary at age nine and credits her family, friends and  teachers, along with the habit of keeping  journals with helping develop her interest and talent.

   Her Mexican grandfather Gabino Arana, who could neither read nor write, would have the family and children all around and tell stories, she said.  

  In fourth grade she saw her own poems, written for an English assignment, displayed on the wall by her teacher  - and published – she felt encouraged to write more.

   During her first year of college in Martinsburg, West Virginia, Arana’s mother, Bonnie, sent her a box of  “stuff” including the diaires.

   ”I was cleaning out the attic!” Bonnie said.

   This inspired Arana to later collect the early and recent works. She returned to Reading, and has not only taken a diploma from Penn State University, but also produced and published her first book of poems, self-published under the name Eminence Publishing Company: Creating new horizons.

   “I wanted it to have a message,” Arana said. “A positive message.”

    It was  two-year project, Arana said, including a trip to Los Angeles in order to publish:

   “I had barely any money, but I went!”

   The message she hopes to send is: Life will have its share of obstacles. Make something great out of it.

    Although the dates they were written are sealed and secret, the poems show an openness that reminds us of an hibiscus.  As we read our signed copy we are delighted with the careful and thoughtful organization of the book, the delicate touch in graphics and the jacket photos of Ms. Arana and the dashing Carlos. She did it. She did it all by herself.

   For more information or to order the book, go to: www.eminencepublishing.com.

  

Body Love: Protect the ORE

Protect the Or

Today’s Recipe for Towpath Magic Squares  

    

ingredients:

one  Pick of the Litter: Body Glove tag

blue and yellow edge design from discarded mini burger candy

Shape of the day ( letter, T on side)

One Disney oval tag as found

several pathlings:

• six leaves on stem
• six broken pieces of branch as arranged by nature
• pair of bark pieces

Y stamp (?? because some Y shaped twigs presented themselves)

Star stamp

one copy of chrome jumping deer hitch cover, reduced to 33%

Directions: Mix inside head and using magic markers, ink and gel pen, and YES! paste, pore over Sudoku square pan.

Taking time: one hour. Yield: one completed Sudoku rebus, nine sections.

 (  While shopping for these items, spotted one heron to report, flying elongated, making noise, up by the metal bridge. One groundhog and a TURTLE! near the mill. )

Rabbit Rests

Rabbit at Rest

  ):< Brewer mourns loss of native son.  Kingdom for an Angstrom. >:(